Scotland=T-110 Days

We are booking (a portion of) our Scotland trip this weekend!  It’s so close I can almost feel the Highland air on my skin.  With that said, I’m pretty much done saving up!  I started saving up maybe two or three months or so ago.  No, I don’t make a bunch of money.  I just have a fool proof way of penny pinching.  And the best part?  Not only is it fool proof, it requires no brain power.  My method is this: set aside $20 per day.  That’s it.  No hard math.  No random increases per week.  Just $20 per day.  The only hard part is remembering/getting yourself to pull $20 out and not dipping into your savings.

If visuals are your thing, here you go:
Add $20 every single day to a savings account, a piggy bank, etc.  Just keep piling it on!  And any time you have the opportunity, add more.

Day	Total Amount Saved	Day	Total Amount Saved	Day	Total Amount Saved
1	$20	31	$620	61	$1,220
2	$40	32	$640	62	$1,240
3	$60	33	$660	63	$1,260
4	$80	34	$680	64	$1,280
5	$100	35	$700	65	$1,300
6	$120	36	$720	66	$1,320
7	$140	37	$740	67	$1,340
8	$160	38	$760	68	$1,360
9	$180	39	$780	69	$1,380
10	$200	40	$800	70	$1,400
11	$220	41	$820	71	$1,420
12	$240	42	$840	72	$1,440
13	$260	43	$860	73	$1,460
14	$280	44	$880	74	$1,480
15	$300	45	$900	75	$1,500
16	$320	46	$920	76	$1,520
17	$340	47	$940	77	$1,540
18	$360	48	$960	78	$1,560
19	$380	49	$980	79	$1,580
20	$400	50	$1,000	80	$1,600
21	$420	51	$1,020	81	$1,620
22	$440	52	$1,040	82	$1,640
23	$460	53	$1,060	83	$1,660
24	$480	54	$1,080	84	$1,680
25	$500	55	$1,100	85	$1,700
26	$520	56	$1,120	86	$1,720
27	$540	57	$1,140	87	$1,740
28	$560	58	$1,160	88	$1,760
29	$580	59	$1,180	89	$1,780
30	$600	60	$1,200	90	$1,800

Initially, I tried to do some weird and convoluted saving method where I would pull out a specific percentage of left over money after bills from every paycheck.  But that was so much math!  I have enough math in my life.  I decided I didn’t need any more.  Then a family friend, who is an insurance salesman so you know he’s all about the savings, was talking about saving up money and he gave me this idea.  Why didn’t I think of it?!  It’s so simple!  And so effective.  In just a few months, I’ve saved up enough money to pay for my entire trip to Scotland.  There have definitely been days where I’ve wanted to throw in the towel and just take all that money and spend it on something completely unrelated. 

The hardest part for me is that my life is not stable.  I don’t have a 401k or an IRA or even a savings account right now.  So this money that I’m saving, there have been times where I just wanted to forego my wanderlust and do the mature thing and save that money for my future.  It’s the constant inner struggle of wanting to be a grown up and not wanting to give up on my adventurous spirit just yet.  As heart-wrenching as it is, I’ve given my adventurous spirit a deadline: the end of 2017.  I’m not just going to give up travelling altogether, but it will definitely take a backseat to a lot of things.  2017 will be the year for adventure (more to come on that topic later).

So, with 2017 being the year of adventure, 2018 will be the year of practicality.  I will start saving for practical things like retirement (i.e. the not fun stuff).  I just have to try to compartmentalize the worry until then.  I have an entire year to be free!  So for now...Scotland, here I come!

Basic math for Scotland!  I even found a tour we can do in the winter time!

But in case you are curious how I planned for Scotland, here is the (organized) madness that went into it all:

Map of Scotland (minus some islands).  We plan to hit Edinburgh, Glasgow,
Stirling, Kyle of Lochalsh, Pitlochry, Inverness, Loch Ness, Highlands, and
The Isle of Skye.  All by train.

I still have to find a castle for us to stay in by the request of one of my travel companions.  Not that I mind staying
in a castle one bit.

Safe Travels,